


Host of the Sunset Room

by Krapfire



Category: NanQuest
Genre: Alcohol, F/M, Music, Piano, sunset
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-04 09:44:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21195602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krapfire/pseuds/Krapfire
Summary: Kim and Santiago spend some time in the Sunset Room, along with some vintage alcohol.





	1. Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> Created by TG_Weaver, NanQuest was a horror-adventure comic or "quest" the audience could interact with by suggesting the next action. Since it has been completed, it is no longer interactive, but you can read the full, finished story in a light, easy-to-read format at this site:
> 
> http://mozai.com/quests/NanQuest/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story starts at the blinding flash of light at the end of NanQuest.  
You could expect SPOILERS to be here.

A great flash of light forces Kim to shut her eyes. Oh great, what now? Freedom was just within reach. Her anxiety rises a bit, but she calms down when she realizes that the injuries the Padre had inflicted on her are gone. In fact, she feels great, as if she had never been hurt before.

_ Maybe this is it, _ she thinks. _ Maybe we’re all dead for real this time. _

As the bright glare fades, Kim opens her eyes, finding herself seated at a small rectangular table. Across its wooden surface, a wall holds a painting of Santiago's head on a garish abstract background, side-eyeing her with a wide sharp-toothed grin, unnerving as the madman himself.

“What the hell?” Kim blurts out. This is definitely not heaven. Probably not hell either. Is this Santiago’s room? Why does he have such a creepy portrait?

Adjusting her thick glasses, Kim rises to her feet and looks around the room she had suddenly been transported into. It seems like a lounge. Aside from the blue of the curtains and the piano beside the window, all the furniture follows a red and orange theme, making the environment almost as colorful as that dreadful painting.

She faces the door when a voice calls out from just outside the room. “Kim?” The door swings open as Santiago walks into the room, still wearing only pants.

“Ah, Kim. I was wondering where you disappeared to,” he murmurs, glancing around at their surroundings, a smile quickly forming on his face. “Well, this place is looking much livelier than I’ve seen it last. I’m liking the revamped look already! The couch is new.” He wanders with a grin, examining the immaculate condition of the room and its furniture.

Assessing Santiago’s condition, Kim notices that his wounds have vanished as well. His face isn’t shredded, and the puncture wound in his side is gone. The blood stains are gone too, leaving his fur somewhat messy but completely clean as if he had just showered. Though the outline of his rib cage is still visible, he looks a bit less skeletal than she last saw him, and-- 

Oooh, he’s got abs. Yeah, he’s skinny and also a bit creepy, but still... Abs. Kim imagines how much muscle mass he must have had before he had gotten trapped in a cursed hotel where horrors roamed in the dark. He must have been starving. While he pokes the couch to test the fabric, she continues examining his thin but toned body, her gaze continuing further down his fuzzy torso, to his long twitchy tail.

She cuts off her ogling when he suddenly turns about to walk past her. “Where are we?” Kim asks as she joins Santiago in his exploration, heading towards the window with him.

“Only the best place to relax. Kim, I welcome you to the Sunset Room!” Santiago excitedly announces with a grand gesture of his arms. Hopping to the piano, he taps a few keys, producing a short jingle like an ‘80s showtune. “Fixed the sticky keys on here. Gave it a nice paint job too! Hahaha!” Santiago laughs loudly, pleased by all the improvements to his little slice of paradise.

Kim draws the curtains hoping she’ll be able to figure out exactly where they are. She peers out the windows where the afternoon sun shines onto a courtyard. A very familiar courtyard. “We’re still in the hotel!? We should go escape!” she cries out, turning towards Santiago who continues to roam around.

“Why would you want to leave so soon? We'll be outta here soon enough. I don’t plan on wasting the last time I get to spend here,” Santiago simply states as he rummages through a wooden cabinet, pulling an unlabeled corked bottle from a shelf, lifting it to his eye level. “Whatever’s outside can wait. Besides, I found some booze! You’ve imbibed with some of your college buddies before, right? Why don’t you join me for a drink? I want my guest to have fun staying in the Sunset Room.”

She’s not about to admit to getting wild at some frat party. However, eyeing the wire cage holding the cork in place, Kim determines that it’s probably champagne, and she feels tempted to try a sip. If it hasn’t spoiled, anyway. “I don’t see why we should stay here any longer. What makes you think we’ll be free after this?” Kim indignantly asks.

“**We ** ** _are _ ** **free**!” Santiago cackles, whirling to face Kim, startling her somewhat. “If you want to leave, you can walk right out the lobby door downstairs. It’s wide open. But right now, right here, we can do anything we want! No responsibilities! No obligations! **This ** ** _is_ ** ** freedom!**” He continues parading around, the bottle swinging in his grasp as he rants. “Tell me this, Kim: are you really in a rush to go back to writing research papers and listening to the monotonous lectures of your university professors?”

Kim sits down on the couch, contemplating that last line of questioning. He’s got a point there. After the traumatizing events of the last few days, she doesn’t want to head back to school just yet, and with the flow of time being all warped here, there’s a good chance that she could keep her college classes paused for a while with no consequences.

Looking over to Santiago who is now prying the cork loose with a switchblade, Kim considers his perspective. She remembers that moment back at the shrine. _ What kind of life do you think I’d have out there? _Santiago had said. _ I done things I can’t come back from. I don’t just get a rewind from this. _

Clearly he’s not ready to return to the normal world yet. What if he stays here too long and never makes it back outside? “So you really don’t want to leave then?” she replies in a much more placated tone.

“Hah! Don’t think I’ll abandon the Sunset Room right after it got refurbished! Just look at all this. Brilliant new drapes, a soft, new carpet, fresh new wallpaper and--” He stops abruptly as he spots the painting of his face. “Ugh. I didn’t think I’d see this piece of shit again. Heh,” His face scrunches up in disgust, though his smile doesn’t leave.

“I’m glad you don’t like it either,” Kim chuckles. “That thing is jus--”

** _POP!!!_ ** The cork shoots out of the bottle and slams into the painting with sufficient force to swing it around, interrupting Kim’s thoughts. It crashes onto the floor with a satisfying thud as Santiago yells “Bullseye!”

“Geez, Santiago.” Kim shakes her head, chortling at his eccentricity. He’s certainly more exciting than any guy she met in college.

“Now, that’s a wonderful aroma,” Santiago says as he inhales the vapors wafting out of the open bottle. “Grab some glasses and pour us some drinks, would you, Kim?” He hands Kim the bottle on his way to the piano, sitting on a stool, running his fingers over the keys to fill the air with music. The song’s complexity impresses Kim. It changes tempo frequently and doesn’t seem to follow any specific key signature, but it still sounds intriguing and well-executed.

Making her way to the cabinets, Kim notes that the bottle’s contents do indeed smell pleasant, reminding her of wildflowers. Coming up with a plan, Kim decides to comply for now, topping off two wide glasses from the cabinets. She’ll make sure Santiago makes it out of here eventually. He did save her life. He must deserve this much at least, right? Plus, free booze. She feels a thrill shooting her body at the thought of spending a night with him, just the two of them alone, drinking sparkling wine together.

She sets the bubbly drinks atop the piano, along with the glass bottle, a contented smile resting on her face. She decides to follow Santiago’s advice for now: she’ll be having some fun in the Sunset Room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 now available


	2. Remember Pablo

The song slows as Santiago picks up his glass, one hand still gliding over the piano keys. He sips the light-colored drink, swishing it around his tongue before swallowing. “Wooh! Much better than cheap vodka from a bar. That’s for sure.” He drinks some more. He pauses the song to refill his glass.

“Try some, Kim.” Santiago turns to Kim, staring into her, daring her to have a taste.

Easy challenge. He already made sure it’s fine and not rotten! She grabs her glass and takes a much bigger sip, appreciating the bittersweet spirits fizzing in her mouth.  _ Yep, this is good stuff,  _ she thinks. She goes for another taste, and Santiago crashes his hands onto the piano, which bellows as the music continues.

“That’s the spirit!” Santiago cackles loudly when Kim chokes on her drink. “I knew you weren’t some fuddy-duddy stick-in-the-mud!”

Kim wipes her face with her sweater sleeve. Looks like she spilled a few drops onto her skirt too. “You didn’t have to startle me, you jerk,” Kim coughs, suppressing her irritation. It may be best to keep him happy for now. It may help her convince him to leave this place.

Kim opens the window to get some fresh air, trying to air-dry any dampness in her clothes. She spends a moment just listening to the music and enjoying her wine.

“I appreciate you hosting me here and all, but when are we leaving?” she eventually asks.

“Are you not comfortable?” he replies. “Do I not keep you entertained?”

Rolling her eyes, Kim pours more into her glass and moves to sit down on the couch. “Well, I don’t think the internet was invented yet when you got stuck here, so you don’t really know what you’re up against,” she says, wondering why she thought spending time with an older half-dressed man would be fun. “The song is kinda interesting, though. Sounds really old.”

“This was composed very recently. Do you like it? I’m calling this one ‘Pablo’.” Kim raises her brow in confusion. She isn’t sure how to respond to that, so she just stares at Santiago and keeps listening.

The song turns quiet as he elaborates. “We all heard his last request. He wishes to be remembered. Pablo chose how he died. He wanted to give his life to save us all, to set us free, and that’s what he did. He did what I wanted to. He died instead of me. Now his body and soul rests we know not where.”

Does Santiago think he should’ve died in Pablo’s place? Does he not think he deserves to live? Since he had mentioned many times that morals don’t matter, that right and wrong don’t matter, Kim hadn’t expected Santiago, of all people, to be suffering from survivor’s guilt. How will Kim convince him to live back in the real world outside?

She drags a chair to sit beside Santiago and places a hand on his shoulder. “Look, I’m grateful for what Pablo did, but you also risked your life to defeat the Padre.” The music stops. Santiago turns to face Kim. His bared teeth look far more threatening without his smile.

Kim gulps and withdraws her hand. She continues in a more timorous voice. “You got hurt, and you could’ve been killed. You--”

“Got half my face torn off. Now I don’t even get to keep the badass scars,” he sneers sarcastically. Santiago gulps down his drink and tosses the empty glass out the window. Leaving Kim at the piano, he walks off with the champagne bottle, back to where the chairs and tables stand, stopping at the overturned painting on the ground. “I  **HATE** this thing!” He stomps, and its wooden frame shatters with a loud  _ CRUNCH _ .

Kim feels bad for ruining his mood, but she can’t just stop now. She wants to ease his self-loathing. “You helped save our lives, Santiago. I haven’t thanked you for that yet.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Santiago hisses at her, his eyes narrowed. “I didn’t risk my life for you or for Nan. I didn’t do it specifically to save  _ your _ lives. No, I did it for myself.”

“I don’t think that’s completely true,” Kim responds in a more assertive voice, pointing a finger in his direction. “Earlier, just downstairs, you came back for me. You did that specifically for me.” She pauses to gauge his reaction. He doesn’t reply. “It was for me, wasn’t it?”

He plods over to the couch, resting his elbows on his lap as he sits. “Heh. I guess Nan’s kindness must be rubbing off on me.”

The next few minutes are quiet. Neither of them make a sound. Santiago stays put, occasionally taking a swig straight from the wine bottle. Eventually Kim finishes her drink, and she gets an idea to revive the atmosphere.

She presses a few keys on the piano, testing herself, trying to remember those lessons from so long ago, wishing she paid more attention to them instead of playing too many arcade games. At least some of it has managed to stick. She plays three notes, then three more, and another three, catching Santiago’s attention.

“How about a duet?” she calls to him, patting the stool to her right, inviting him to join her. He places the empty wine bottle onto a table as he pads over to her. He seems to have left behind all his frustrations as well, replaced by interest and curiosity.

“You didn’t tell me you can play,” he says softly as he settles beside her.

“Nothing as good as you, I’m sure.”

“We’ll see about that.” Santiago’s smile slowly returns.


	3. Sunset

They perform a lovely duet on the piano.

While Kim sets the pace with chords, controlling the flow of the song, Santiago responds with the melody, adding his stylistic flair to the harmony. Whenever Kim would change from one chord to the next, Santiago would follow up with a unique combination of notes each time, preventing a sense of repetitiveness and keeping the song fresh and new. Santiago reaches a new level of ecstatic.

The song goes on for a while, and they only become more committed to the music, flooding it with their combined enthusiasm and occasionally emitting pleasant laughter. In this moment, Kim finds herself enjoying this moment more than any of her previous experiences. Though that may just be the alcohol. That could explain the giddy feeling.

Eventually, Kim slows the song, and Santiago concludes their performance with an exuberant little finale. “That was awesome," Kim says. "We should do that again some time.”

“Maybe,” Santiago sighs tiredly, having expended a large amount of his energy. Turning away from Kim, he gets up to prop himself onto the window sill, scratching his neck idly while he watches the puffy little clouds above, their colors shifting as the sun starts to set. Kim has never seen such mellow behavior from him before.

“Why are you still here, Kim?” he asks her quietly after a minute. It’s a simple question without a simple answer.

“To make sure you return outside with us?” That didn’t come out with very much certainty. When Santiago tilts his head slightly, one towards her, she repeats herself more confidently. “I want to have fun _ and _ I want to make sure return outside with us.”

“If that’s what you really want…” Santiago smiles again. It’s different, somehow. It’s a nice, pleasant smile. It reminds her of that painting but way less creepy. He looks almost charming, framed perfectly against the warm orange and mauve of the sky. “I know I can’t stay here forever. This place can’t hold us any longer. I can feel it,” he says, returning his gaze back to the outside. “Soon, we’ll be back out there.” Kim moves to the window beside Santiago, placing a hand atop one of his. He stays completely still.

“People will expect us to follow the rules of society,” he carries on. “Even if we don’t want to, they have the power to make us live constrained by the law. They can force us to obey or get rid of us as they did Alan, that unfortunate soul.” Kim wraps herself around Santiago’s arm, leaning against his shoulder. She can’t remember the last time she hugged anyone.

“But right here, right now, I’m just happy to enjoy one last night without disturbance and feel alive. Drink wine, play piano, watch the sunset. I haven’t seen the sun in a month. It’s beautiful, isn’t it, Kim?”

“It’s really pretty,” Kim admits. Brilliant streaks of light stretch across the sky as the sun slowly dips beyond the horizon. “This is nice. _ Reeaaaally _ nice.”

Santiago finally looks her in the eyes. “You made me very happy today, Kim. Now, I want to do something for you. Tell me what you want, Kim. I want to make _ you _ happy.”

“I’m already happy,” she slurs. “I wanted to hang out with you, and it was really fun.”

“I’m glad to hear you enjoyed your time with a rascal like me.”

“Maybe I just think bad boys are hot.”

She releases his arm and turns around to hide the blush on her face, retreating from the window. _ Oh my god. Why did I say that? I must be drunk. _

“Well, I really didn’t think that I’d be your type. But I guess you can’t really choose what you’re into,” Santiago croons while Kim nervously twists the hem of her sweater.

“You’ve enjoyed yourself today, and you’ve been a good companion,” he continues as he approaches Kim from behind. “I like when a girl does what she wants. But a fine, young woman like you must have more desires. If it is what you want, we could have some more fun here before we leave. Besides, I’ve spent longer without a woman than without booze.” His hands clasp over Kim’s wrists, and she gasps as Santiago presses his body against her back.

“Is this what you want, Kim?” he says, resting his chin on her shoulder. “Do you crave to be touched? To consort with a roguish scamp like me? To cry out in pleasure as I do with your body as I please?”

“Mmmph…” Kim bites her lip, suppressing a moan. _ Oh, god. The dirty talk just makes him hotter. _She nods her head, not denying the lust warming her core.

“I want to hear you say it, Kim,” he whispers into her ear, his breath warm against her cheek. “Say you want this. Express your desire.” 

“Yeah. Yes, I want it,” she pants out.

“_ That’s _ what I want to hear!” Santiago exclaims in glee. He embraces her more tightly, one hand snaking beneath her sweater, the other moving to her chest.

“Just let me take care of my guest now. I’ll make us _ both _ feel alive.”

With a slightly anxious smile on her face, Kim concedes, letting Santiago decide her fate as her skirt drops onto the carpet.


End file.
